Musk's Dad Says He Arranged Son's Call With Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa needed to call Elon Musk on Monday night.

The billionaire had publicly accused the post-apartheid government of anti-white racism and Musk's ally, US President Donald Trump, said he would cut more than 400m R7.5bn in funding to the country.

Bejani Chauke, an adviser to Ramaphosa, called Musk's father Errol, a 78-year-old engineer who lives in a luxury double-storey coastal villa a two-hour drive from Cape Town, Musk senior said.

'I was asked if I can arrange a quick talk between Ramaphosa and Elon last night, so I did, and they spoke a few minutes later,' Errol Musk told Reuters at his home in Langebaan, a mostly white enclave looking onto a lagoon fed by the Atlantic Ocean where he keeps a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce.

He briefly showed an exchange of WhatsApp messages between himself and Chauke that backed up his account. Chauke did not respond to questions by Reuters about his role in contacting Musk's father. Ramaphosa's office confirmed the phone conversation with Musk, who was born in SA, in a post on the tycoon's X social media platform.